Plexchat announced this week that it has secured $7 million in funding which will be used to further its social app that is designed with mobile gamers in mind. According to the announcement, the seed round of funding was backed by a number of investors, including Raine Ventures, First Round Capital, Dream Incubator, Lumia Capital, and others.
While there a number of social (and just as many gaming) apps already available on Android, Plexchat is taking a different approach due to what the company sees as a fairly large gap in the market. The emphasis being on a social app that is largely only for gamers. In contrast to the number of other social apps, which simply allow gamers to converse via the mobile medium, Plexchat looks to put gaming front and center by offering a “premiere application for mobile gamers” that provides an environment where gamers themselves can not only commnunicate with each other, but actively spread the word on new games. In addition to providing an atmosphere that better (or additionally) caters to app developers where they can also spread the word on their latest gaming options. As importantly, a platform which is not necessarily driven by advertising by the largest and most powerful gaming companies in the market, but one which is open to all types of developers and gaming genres, irrespective of market popularity.
Plexchat is not a new app per se, as it is already available for download on the Google Play Store. However, the app does currently seem to be in an early stage of its development cycle, which is likely where the new funding will come in. As part of this week’s investment announcement, the press release highlights that Plexchat is more than just a text-based ‘chat’ app and instead is one which offers a richer chat experience for gamers, due to the inclusion of aspects like ‘smart messages,’ response rooms’, ‘community building tools’, and an in-app ‘game wiki.’ In short, a one-stop portal for everything gaming, be it a place where like-minded gamers can chat, or just find additional information about current, new, and upcoming titles.
